Sometimes emotions takeover my thinking power and extremism takes a toll on my rationality. These varied behaviours can be really dicey in various situations when diplomacy is the only way out . In such times, I like putting down my thoughts into some phrases/couplets or its just rhyming lines. Most of those reading this would be sitting idle with all the luxuries in life. I am in the same situation while writing this. Though, my conscience just keeps striking me whenever I read about current global issues from any sources. Sometimes it just feels that we know that what is happening in this world is wrong but in spite of taking an initiative we know that nothing’s changing. However positive we are. So this is one of those phrases that I wrote down….
Silence of the sea….torments of the tide…
is buzzing like a flea…around my mind…..
The World collides and laws defied,
justice denied and the tides arise,
peace is the thing we may never find….
until we fight the War for our rights.
By breaking the silence of the sea….
and tormenting the traitors through rough tides.
By Ending the Dominance and their Pride…
Resting in shallow waters with hope,
Hope of emerging winners in the stride,
Initiative is what we have never tried,
Just sat behind and trusted the pope,
Blame-Game is what all of us have done,
And on all the misery we have only sighed,
It is high time that we all decide,
And break the barriers that create divide.
By breaking the silence of the sea….
and tormenting the traitors through rough tides………
“You are the Global Leaders of tomorrow.” This line really doesn’t fascinate me anymore. Its just another person saying this because its his/her job to do so. Though, I just believe that we can…and well we should do something…even if its helping even one individual. This what my understanding of glocalisation is…..maybe its right…maybe wrong…
My freshmen year (or the freshers is what they call in the UK) is on the brink of completion. Unlike many freshmen, I am delighted that its almost over. Well, the main reason of this was to get a taste of ‘real life’ as the elders say. As a part of my curriculum, I am supposed to find an industrial placement for 6 months where I would work as a full time employee in a company and get empirical business knowledge. Sounds fascinating for a prospective business major undergrad…. always!
Starting mid-jan, I started applying through the placements office. The time was similar to that of college applications. The same curiosity to know the result, the same joy of applying and the same day-dreaming of placing myself to ‘that dream job’. Though, the difference was that this time, I would earn some bucks to actually do something. Theres always a BUT in my life…always…and here it comes..
BUT, in spite of having an interest in current economic events and also knowing some of it, never did I take the other side of the ‘job story’ into consideration. Though, reality’s a bitch and my overly-optimistic ego was certainly bit by it pretty hard. Time went by and so did the vacancies. They filled up at the speed of light!! After writing around 5 (more or less worthless) covering letters, I got a phone interview for an web analyst where I certainly messed up the “most healthy word (costliest) on google Adwords” question (its INSURANCE just for your knowledge). Although this increased some hope of doing better next time. The next time was after a month and a half where I was called for a one on four interview at the co.’s office.
After this interview, which was held at Canary Wharf (google it, its worth it), I literally placed my self at the 32nd floor office hanging out and checking financial reports. Well, it didn’t turn out in my favour. Damn!
After that its just been a “half glass full” perspective and that hope that the glass would some day be filled completely. After 4 months of application and search, I haven’t been much successful. Just have one interview next week (during my finals that is).
But then I realise that the slightest economist in me didn’t struck my conscience. Over 8.3% of unemployment rate in the UK with an increase in the first quarter of 2012. A horrendous economic situation along with the ‘EU storm’. Adding to all of that, my sub-standard covering letters would never make an impact on the employers. Even for the least of the white collar jobs, the employers are probably expecting kind of like an x-factor. Well, I hope I can pull that off in my next interview, otherwise I am home-bound to probably work at an MNC out there
On the positive side, I’ve had this spoonful of experience which has also enabled me to understand that life’s full of hardship unless I start enjoying the low’s of it and taking them positively. It also allowed me to question myself if I actually want to be a part of the ‘corporate mob’(coming up next ). As my mum said, “whatever happens, happens for good” (I guess most mothers would say that to their kids maybe to just make us feel good.)
Lastly, in good spirits, I just want to congratulate the people who have found a job/internship and even who are successfully employed…..and the ones who haven’t…..check this picture out and let’s try and get a job
Its been more than 2 months since Ive posted something. A feeling of guilt (not exactly) and regret (more of that). “Uni life” has been decent till now. One of the main reasons that kept me away from a post. Hours and Hours of FIFA, lots and lots of clubbing, loads and loads of movies……and work!!
I also realized that one other for being lazy to even think about writing is the weather. Horribly cold and windy! It was just another day when my friend sneaked into my iphone and discovered some couplets I had written about the first snowfall back in December. She was annoying though, motivating me to continue the couplets and just write. This was one of the moments when I realized that I had long-forgotten my deep affection for writing.
Though everyone has a moment of epiphany at different points of time and I got one. This moment was after watching ‘Jerry Maguire’. I realized that my thought-process is kind of rusting, and that I was being doomed by the clouds of unproductiveness. Hence, I decided to write down some words and return back to one of my hobbies…wiz. Writing.
Therefore I just continued the couplet about the first snowfall:
Like cotton buds they’re falling down, Bring smiles on the faces that usually frown, Getting chills in the bodies…Though warmth in the hearts, Falling solitaires are these…Spreading love all around.
I believe that this entire duration from writing to stop-writing and getting back to writing is just like change in utilities and clearly shows the concept of diminishing marginal returns and transition of utilities Smallest of these things bring out the econ. geek in me.
We all live in the Economics of Life after all !
Getting on with writing some good serious stuff now…. Hope you guys like it.
As the readers know, I’m a Mourinho fan through and through and this post just had to come up on my beloved Madrid. It’s late but it just had to. I personally had lost belief that Real Madrid would ever beat Barcelona under Jose Mourinho. They still haven’t and went down again last Wednesday at the Bernabeu. It was a defeat I expected but if we were ever gonna win, this was the one. With this loss, hopes of the Copa del Rey were shattered and I was left wounded once again. Mourinho was criticized, jeered against Bilbao by his own fans and rumours of bust-ups during training surfaced. I was almost certain I was gonna see a 5-0 at the Camp Nou but unlike last time when I shed tears in my friends washroom this time I was prepared because of two reasons: Barca are divine and Madrid can never beat them because even if they come close either the ref finds a way out for Barca or we gift it to them with a stupid error of man-marking or a misplaced pass.
After the 5-0 I saw every El Clasico alone. This time everyone was at my place and how fitting would it be to see another 5-0 with everyone. But as soon as the whistle was blown, it was all Madrid. I was enjoying every moment of the first half as we were tearing Barcelona apart. Ozil producing a Zidane-like performance, Ronaldo working his socks off and Sergio Ramos playing like a King. It was crucial to score an early goal and Higuain missed two brilliant chances. Then came a moment that brought back my wrath: Eric Abidal handling the ball and no penalty given. I’m honestly used to this Clasico bullshit but it infuriated me, again. The game went on and after getting dominated by a Madrid side fully committed to winning, Barcelona scored twice in 5 minutes at the end of the first half. My 5-0 prediction was probably gonna be a reality and my idols birthday was gonna be tarnished with the insults of critics like Fabio Capello who hasn’t tasted success since 2007.
But what followed in the second half was beyond belief for me. Madrid fought back. And fought back hard. Getting back to 2-2 with stunning goals and seeing a Ramos header ruled out for something I still can’t figure out (maybe Dani Alves can tell me how his strong frame crumbled from that touch). The game was ours. I sat there wondering how many chances would have to go by before we got the winner. It never happened. Busquets crumbled and Ramos was sent off by the referees grace after receiving a second yellow. After 10 men, it was all over but the character and strength shown by Real Madrid players was divine. The only difference was that this time we went down as a team.
We’re out of the Copa del Rey but this “loss” has dispelled any doubts about Madrids inferiority to Barcelona and any club in the world. The loss sees us out of a competition but provides us with a new born belief and rage that is definitely gonna help us seal the La Liga this time around and probably win the Champions League. Never again will this Jose Mourinho fan have to be pessimistic before an El Clasico cause now he knows his team is the fucking best. Last week I said FC Barcelona is divine and I meant it but this week I’m gonna say this and leave it there: Real Madrid are as close as it gets to Barcelonas divinity and this year, we’re gonna break it and break it for good because now we have the one thing we never had – “Belief”. Belated Happy Birthday Jose Mourinho. I’m proud to support a born winner and role model like you.
Well, as the emphasis in the title suggests, this post is about the person who has revolutionised the world of technology (at least the design and graphics part of it). None other than Steve Jobs. Just to cut it short and sweet, like just another random admirer, this was the tribute sent by me to rememberingsteve@apple.com:- His product was the one that helped me complete all my IBDP assignments on time….it was his product due to which I finished my apps and got into the uni. I wanted, it was his product that helped me calm down by providing amazing music..it was his product that drew my attention back to animated movies and brought about childhood memories…it was his product that actually helped me carry out Ganesha prayers during Lord Ganesha chaturthi!! He connected lives, connected hearts, connected business and connected the world without giving a damn about his health. An epitome of confidence, respect, courage and “Apple”. I mean every single word of it. I know there have been many people criticising either his products or him for having an attitude or kind of like a flamboyant past. Well, I just believe that every person has a choice to make and no one…believe me no one can make a right choice all the time. But its true that most of the times, our fickle minded population notes an individual’s fault than his various achievements. Honestly, he stood up, stood out, thought out of the box and entirely changed the meaning of “Apple”. I mean even a kid in his computer class will get the search results of “Apple Inc.” before the fruit when he learns how to use “Google”. I actually didn’t have many words to write about this post though I just felt like sharing this with all the readers(especially apple products users). This strong character inspired millions including me by showing that it is our own curiosity to learn, commitment and hard work that can lead us to greater heights. I can just say that he touched the hearts of millions, and one of them was certainly mine. Well, he was certainly the ‘Apple of my eye!!’. You can share any kind of tribute or any views by commenting on this… as usual YOUR opinion matters….!
Now signing off…from Apple Macbook Pro! R.I.P Steve Jobs
Readers have seen two posts on Sports but they aren’t related to me or my perspective. As an author, I noticed I’m doing it all wrong. You readers just know what I’ve noticed about the transition of Football into a business from a sport and about the inequality there is at the top of club football. What you still don’t know about this football fan from Mumbai is why he watches the sport, why he cherishes every moment of it and why he so passionately writes about it.
I’ve heard of so many people who’ve started watching the sport because of their friends. Honestly, that’s how I started too but I didn’t even know which club to support (which I don’t even today) but as my inquisitive mind explored the vast sport my eyes fell on one crucial detail.
It was mid-season and the 2004/2005 Premier League title race had just begun to hot up with 3 genuine title contenders: Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea. I was just about aware of players like Theirry Henry and David Beckham – players who everyone spoke about and that’s where my knowledge ended. At this time of infancy in the sport, I heard about this interview where the new Chelsea manager (Jose Mourinho) made an outrageous comment. It was his first Chelsea press conference and I read about it 4 and a half months later. The comment that caught my eye was “Please don’t call me arrogant, but I’m European champion and I think I’m a special one.” I’m not the only one who was shocked by this but more than that mind you it was the sheer confidence that caught my eye – confidence not in his team but the confidence in himself to turn a bunch of players into champions of England. And that’s exactly what he did.
At this point, I still wasn’t sure of who I was supporting but I had that soft corner for Jose. Then Chelsea won the title and Mourinhos book “Jose Mourinho: Made in Portugal” released. Somehow, I got my hands on the book and when I read about his time as Head Coach of FC Porto, I was convinced this man is a genius. From that moment on, it was decided: I support the club managed and coached by the “Special One”. Yes, I’ve been criticized by many for this approach but when you have a role model, you support that role model and although I realize and acknowledge his errors (whether tactical or on a moral level), he is my idol and there’s no way anything or what anyone says is gonna change that.
Since then, my knowledge about football has grown. I no longer hang back and listen to what others say. I’ve learnt a lot from the tactical and strategic end and I’ve seen Mourinho wrap trophy after trophy in the last few years. He’s broken a number of records and although controversial his comments and actions have been he has done absolutely everything to prove he’s one of the best there is, ever was and will ever be.
From Mourinho, I’ve learnt and imbibed a number of things. One is to always have a winning mentality. The minute you doubt yourself on the path of achieving your ambition or goal, you’ve lost it. Always stay in the hunt, there’s a solution and you can find it. What I also appreciate about him is that even though he makes it known that he’s the boss, he has an amazing relationship with his players. They worship him. Lampard and Drogba were reduced to tears on the day goodbyes were said and sources reveal Lampard had to hide his tears in the shower room. On winning the Champions League with Inter Milan and declaring his time was up at Inter, Mourinho was moved and reduced to tears immediately when he spotted Marco Materazzi – veteran center back rarely used by Jose – crying. The two hugged, cried and shared a few words. And this comes from Materazzi, a player who was not only rarely used by Jose but also known to be arrogant and bullish. It’s exactly that kind of relationship I’d like to develop with my friends and colleagues in the future in whichever field of life may take me to.
Tactically supreme, cheeky, a father-figure and a family man, Jose Mourinho has now been my role model since the last 6 years and is the reason I watch football. As I write this, Madrid aren’t even on top of the La Liga but I’m sure their time will come as he’s marshalled them better than ever and they’re probably one of the strongest in the world. At present, I can only wish that man luck on achieving a 3rd Champions League title and his first La Liga trophy at the end of this season. If that happens, he’s breaking a number of records. But most of all, he’ll prove to everyone exactly why I idolize him. In conclusion, all I can say is that one shouldn’t call him arrogant. He’s European Champion and one of the best coaches the world of sports has ever seen and I think he’s The Special One.
This is how I started and have been watching football. Feel free to give your views on this and I’d love to hear you write about which club/manager/owner you support and why.
This was my reaction when I received my first e-mail of acceptance. It feels great to read every word of that e-mail as you’ve spent a lot of time on not only your general applications but the haunting application essays too. You finally realise that every second spent on those essays was worth it.
Though, on the other hand, there is a feeling of disgust and sorrow rushing through your body if you get rejected from your first-choice college. I went through that feeling exactly a week after that e-mail of acceptance. I was cursing myself for not working hard enough for my high school semesters, secondary school examinations, sports, extra-curriculars etc. etc. But then I realised that I still had my high school examinations left and I could not get into a college unless I conquered those.
In this entire journey of acceptance and rejections which lasted for about 5 months, there was a time between sending the application and receiving the reply which was nerve-cracking. In that span, I believe people have their ways to curb that feeling of nervousness. Some start meditating, listening to music, going to counsellors, praying(I guess everyone does that) and the list goes on…There are very few who concentrate more on their high school curriculum in order to curb that feeling(I call them Geniuses :p).
I chose to watch “college movies”, not exactly as a way to curb the nervousness but to attain some motivation. I believe many of you might have done this too. If you have read “The Secret” you would probably know about the laws of attraction. This was one of the reasons I chose to watch those movies.
Hence, if you are a prospective undergrad. you might want to pick some of these movies Ive listed below. For the rest, you’d surely like some of these …..
These movies are in order of my preference…
1) Orange County(2002): Simply amazing! Shaun Brumder played by Colin Hanks is a hard working student and a passionate writer whose main aim is to get into Stanford. Clerical mistake leads to his rejection. Thats where the journey begins…..Jack Black(his brother in the film) provides the comic relief. This film shows that it doesn’t matter where you study…..Passion and dedication are the most important things in order to succeed.
2) Accepted(2006): If you’re a prospective undergrad. You’ve got to watch this film. I believe anyone who’s applied to college from 2006 might have seen this movie. If not, you surely should. An excellent comedy movie! Bunch of guys getting rejected from every college and creating a college of their own along with their genius friend from Harmon College(replicated from Harvard I guess). Apart from the crazy humour, it provides a good moral to the world that one should never give up on what they are interested in.
Though, Warning:Please don’t get any wicked ideas from this movie.
3) Good Will Hunting(1997): Its a drama film starring great actors like Matt Damon, Robbin Williams, Ben Affleck and Stellan Skarsgard. Written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, this movie is based on a true story of Will Hunting, who was a janitor in MIT. Will Hunting, a naturally gifted intellectual solves a problem on algebraic graph theory that was posed to graduate students in the corridor. Left in shock, the professor compels Will to work with him and attend a counsellor(Williams) in exchange for his judicial issues. With the counsellor is when he realises and shares his emotional issues. I leave the rest for you to watch….
4) The Social Network(2010): This movie needs no introduction. Start of a revolutionary era by invention of Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg : a Harvard College drop-out. Second-richest college dropout after Bill Gates: another Harvard dropout.
5) Revenge of the Nerds 1: The name says it all. A film where the nerds get even. This film shows their life on a college campus and specially the life in fraternities. A good watch if you’ve got some free time.
Apart from these, there are several other college movies. One of the most famous movies are by National Lampoon . Apart from all these suggestions and reviews, I would just like to suggest the prospective undergrads should manage their time in order to watch these movies as ultimately their high school grades, those haunting essays and their applications are the most important things in order to get into the college of their choice. These movies would help you to kind of ease you up during a time of stress. Just want to say that eventually even if the e-mail reads “Congratulations” or “I regret to inform you..”, its not the end of the world and world holds a good lot for everyone . You might think that its easy for me to say this because I’ve got accepted but even I’ve gone through 5 rejections out of 11. Look at “half glass full” rather than empty is all I can say. Its just about never losing hope!!
Lastly, whoever the reader is, these movies will surely entertain you to a great extent. If you guys have any other suggestions…kindly post a comment
A few days ago a bomb went off outside the Delhi high court. This, just a little over a month after 3 bombs went off in crowded market places in Bombay. India is no stranger to terrorism. We have faced terrorism and oppression in many different forms since before we even gained freedom. Lately it has increased. The amount of terrorist activity that originates from within the country itself has grown immensely. Naxal violence in rural areas of India only get worse day by day, Kashmir has been in turmoil for years now. Even the Eastern States of India now face violence from their international borders. Is India’s security ever going to get stronger? We all know how easy it was for those terrorists to enter Indian waters and keep the financial capital of the country on hold for 4 days. What happened to strict border and coastal patrols? I know these are questions that have been asked time and again and that there is no simple solution to this problem. I know that criticising the government will do no one any good because it won’t change anything that needs to be changed. Look at the Anna Hazare movement against corruption. People were obsessed with it for weeks and now that parliament has agreed to some of the major clauses there’s no more noise against corruption. People are ready to fight for something to be implemented but after its implemented no one checks to see whether it’s being followed or flouted. We are ready to fight for stuff but are we really changing anything just by making noise about it? Screaming about corruption isn’t stopping anyone from bribing their way out of a speeding ticket. We need to change the mentality of the common man and that is an extremely difficult task. The average Indian is uneducated and under the poverty line. They don’t understand the change that India needs and in my opinion the only way to make them understand, the only way anything in this country can maybe even begin to change is education. Education is the root to solving many problems. It’s like a chain effect, the population is educated, they understand more, they know what to ask of from their government, they know how to make a choice while voting instead of getting swept up in the sweet promises that are never kept and only made to rake in the votes. I think that if the government is the way it is we only have ourselves to blame because we are the ones who elect them in the first place.
Another concept that we Indians do not fully understand is patriotism. Just by saying I love my country, its the best, aren’t being patriotic. True patriots are people who actually stand up and fight for something that they believe will help our countries development and progress. Patriotism isn’t something that you show by putting flags in your car every Independence day. I believe that patriotism lies in helping spread the education and literacy that this country needs to overcome many of its current struggles.
In today’s world, we all want to become more knowledgeable and be competitive. We all claim to read the newspapers and read many articles online and go to seminars and try to gain as much knowledge as we can. Today’s citizen has decided to “go global” and know about the trends of the economy and the problems faced in other countries. But how many of them know about the main problems which are faced by the local economy? For some of you, this might sound offensive and redundant. But what I’m trying to say here is that today, people are only focused about reading the news because if they don’t do so, they will not get a fine job and will not be able to make conversation.
They read the headlines of the day and whatever the news channels tell us and then go around debating and talking about that issue. It’s like fashion!! Whatever current issue is “in” will be known by everyone. Mind you, by everyone I include everyone from the smallest street vendor to the richest people in the world. We never want to know more about the problem from within! Which one of you wants to know more about the plight that the victims of the bomb blasts face? But which one of you wants to know every detail about your favorite football club?
I’m accusing all of us here because of this one incident which put me into deep thought. For some time I thought, I know all about current issues and now I’m an “informed man”. But during an activity in a NGO I was volunteering, I realized that I don’t know about the certain issues which actually make a difference in millions of people’s lives. I have superficial knowledge which actually meant that I was using half knowledge and in reality and fooling myself of being informed!
We may have heard of these terms: BT. Cotton, Vidarbha, farmer suicides, genetic engineering, globalization, W.T.O etc. But how many of us have heard that all these terms relate to one big problem engulfing almost 2/3rd of India’s population? I’m sure the statistics will be shamefully low. Here’s the incident which brought this epiphany upon me to get to the crux of any issue or not claim to be knowledgeable.
For majority of time I believed that farmer suicides were the result of only local aristocrats being unfair. But who knew that it was actually the result of an international policy which affected majorly in the rural areas? The real reason of farmer suicides was that the farmers were forced to pay a lot more for their production of their harvest than they actually would before globalization because of the invasion of the multinational company, Monsanto. Monsanto, came up with a genetically modified(GM) seed and provided it to farmers claiming that it would prevent pests from invading their fields and destroying them. BUT, this was just half of the truth that they had revealed. The pests ultimately get used to the GM seeds and then attack the crops after several years and the farmland is accustomed to only the GM seeds because of certain properties that it has. Monsanto, being a crafty multinational, decided to make a pesticide against the new pests and patents it in such a way that no one else can make an effective substitute. The rest is pure simple business and economics where the price was raised to a great extent and the farmers were forced to pay for it or risk losing their land. Hence leading to non-repayment of loans and hence suicides which would “guarantee” them Rs.100,000 according to the Government.
Not that the government isn’t acting against this issue, but I personally think a lot more could yet be done. But the government too cannot be wholly blamed because they too face really large opportunity costs while taking any steps towards these issues.
That being said, how many of y’all know about the recent defeat of India in the Test series with England? How many of you know about what’s happening in your society? How many of those people who know are actually doing something about it?
It’s a shame that we read the news just to gain knowledge. Not that doing that is not at all a positive thing, but what’s the use of knowledge when not applied? I would just like to point out to one aspect of the famous phrase (“Think globally, act locally”) that we must ACT and not just keep thinking. We have to feel strongly for the news that we read and make a difference in whatever way we can. Not just read the news updates like they are fashion statements by some celebrity. I learnt this fact after a long time, but you have the opportunity to think about it and actually evaluate what you are doing and then DO IT!.
As always, any opinion or suggestion for or against my viewpoint is welcome for discussion because YOUR opinion matters!
. In such times, I like putting down my thoughts into some phrases/couplets or its just rhyming lines. Most of those reading this would be sitting idle with all the luxuries in life. I am in the same situation while writing this. Though, my conscience just keeps striking me whenever I read about current global issues from any sources. Sometimes it just feels that we know that what is happening in this world is wrong but in spite of taking an initiative we know that nothing’s changing. However positive we are. So this is one of those phrases that I wrote down….
!
Shyam Anjaria
Gunangad Arora
Mohit M
notanotherrandomgirl
